Turning, but not catching

It's been... months... since I last tried to turn over my H. Yesterday I gave it a shot. It cranked, but never caught.

If the battery is weak, will it turn over the motor, but not allow it to actually fire up? Seems logical to me, but at the same time, if it has enough juice to turn the motor over... why won't it fire?

any stabilizer in the fuel? My guess would be old/varnished fuel. Does it smell right? Also might be condensation that turned into water and settled to the bottom of the tank/carb bowl.

Hi, Mike. Good to see ya back around some.

I don't expect you have the condensation problems where you are that we do here in the northeast, but I'd suspect points first. Try polishing them up using a folded-up crisp dollar bill. And don't forget to replace the rotor when you're done! BTDT.

If it has enough power to turn the engine, you should have enough to produce a spark [and completely irrelevant with a mag).

But, at the risk of stating the obvious, you're not getting fuel, spark, or maybe compression [if you're borderline there, a week battery won't spin it fast enough to pull in a good mixture or compress it as well either].

Soooo; after a few months, I'd suspect points or needle valve. Least messy (especially if you have an assitant) pull a plug wire and check for spark. If that's good, do you smell gas at the exhaust when it cranks? No? See if that carb is getting gas, if it doesn't have gas, it could be stuck needle valve, plugged line or bowl, [is the gas above the standpipe? BTW].

Well a couple obvious directions anyway; I don't have my H anymore, but that one and several others I've tinkered with were always pretty forgiving if they had gas in the carb and spark at the plugs.

The carb is getting gas, proven by the fact that it leaks out the bottom like it always has done (No Rusty, I haven't replaced those parts you sent me yet. )

I'll start with the points and go to the plugs after that. If still nothing, then I'll go ahead and pull the carb off and replace those parts Rusty sent me to work on the leak.

Thanks for the tips so far!

Today's Gasolline can and does change in the tank.
I do not know what it changes to, but it does not burn after sitting for several months. I would do two things, I would put at least 50% more new gas in it, Drain the carb until the new blend is sure to be coming out, then Put a little (Teaspoon) in each plug hole, Charge the battery, and start it JimN

The running gas suggests you might also want to use a little less choke, or just as much but not for as long.

Oh crap. I didn't choke it at all. It's never needed it, and I didn't think to try it.

I hate being tractor stupid. :roll:

I'll try that tonight.

Sorry guys, these old machines will practically run on cow urine. A few months of sitting around won't turn the gas enough that the tractor won't run on it.

If you have a battery ignition, then yes, a weak battery could be the cause of your trouble. The starter sucks down the voltage on the battery and it's too low for the coil to create a spark. Charge the battery. A <$20 battery maintainer left on the tractor 24/7 when it's sitting will prevent this. I got mine at WalMart for about $16, and it does both 6V and 12V. My A never even hesitated to fire when I started it a handful of times over the winter.

Easy way to check for spark: Pull one plug and put it back into its wire. Lay the base of the plug against the engine block and crank the engine. Don't go tearing into the distributor if you don't have to.

Odd. I had a '69 Ford half-ton (back before emissions standards and they were F-100s) with a hand choke on a 390. Ya certainly couldn't forget teh choke in cold weather if ya wanted to go anyplace. Which isn't to say that ya couldn't forget to open it once she started runnin' right. With that dinky little behind-the-seat tank, she'd pass anything but a gas station. She was lucky to make it TO the gas station on a full tank if you forgot and left the choke closed.

If it has a distributer, yes the starter can take enough of the current so that it won't fire, if it is turning over very slow. If you have a crank, try to crank it -- distributer equipped tractors will fire with a crank unless the battery is all the way dead. Otherwise charge the battery, if it ran several months ago it should start now. I always have trouble starting mine in the dead of winter, if they have not been started for a while -- of course that shouldn't apply to CA.

I have an H I start about once a year, sometimes I add a little gas to it, sometimes not. I keep just enough gas in it so that the bottom of the tank doesn't turn to sludge. Has a mag, started with a 12 volt battery (no gen or lights). It always starts. My personal opinion, based on the 7 tractors I have and their lack of use is that gasoline is BETTER than it was 50 years ago. It could pretty lousy then, depending on where it came from.

When gas runs out the bottom of the carb, walk away for a while -- it isn't going to start for an hour or so. I think with a charged battery and no choke, it will start -- unless the needle and seat for the float is constantly leaking gas.

Clean the points

What troubleshooting steps have you performed?
Spark, wet plugs, points, compression? Why are you even trying to start it when you haven't fixed the carb problem. Once again my friend , get a plan and go through it in sequence.
Try to spend as much time working on the tractor as you do on the pc.
Gordo

What troubleshooting steps have you performed?
Spark, wet plugs, points, compression? Why are you even trying to start it when you haven't fixed the carb problem. Once again my friend , get a plan and go through it in sequence.
Try to spend as much time working on the tractor as you do on the pc.
Gordo

Mike,

Our gasoline Farmalls had to set up for mouths in the off season (A 200 and a Super A) not being large enough for plowing. Cranking them the first time after setting up can be a bugger. Do these steps: 1. Fully charge the battery, 2. Do use the choke, 3. Use a little starter fluid or WD-40 in the breather if necessary, and in a pinch 4. Pull it off with another unit, just be sure your pulling tractor is in low gear and your starting tractor in in high gear. If your points, plugs, and carburator worked when you parked it, they probably still do. If all this fails, start the checks for spark etc. It may run rough until you put about a tank of gasoline through it and you may have to drain the carp a few times. For units that will have to set up for long periods of time and you do not have the opportunity to load it down in the field, you should drain the gasoline and use fresh when you restart the engine. Larry

Hi Mike! A low battery can cause the coil not to have enough juice to fire the plugs when cranking. I would charge the battery some and see what happens then. Good to see you back on here! I figured you have been buzy with work and the little ones.

Points can develop an almost-invisible film that will inhibit spark. Never tried the dollar bill, but I know a point file works great. Sandpaper will work, but do NOT use emery cloth. I think it contains little bits of iron, which will mess up the points, I believe.
Magnetos always seemed to get less attention than battery ignition, in my day ("way back when"). Maybe because the points were a little hard to get at. Worth a little filing and point-gap check.
Points will slowly get closer together with use, so it's a good idea to check the point gap. Too close, weak spark. Too far, weak or no spark. True of either mag or coil ignition. There are point specs for each tractor, but a quick rule-of-thumb that will work in a pinch is "one thin dime," my father's formula for adjusting points.
I suspect it comes out around .010".
Spark plug gaps spread with time and heat, too. Too wide means you need hotter spark to jump the gap.
I don't have a gas tractor any more, but I have found from unpleasant experience that leaving gas in mowers and chainsaws is not a great idea.
I run the tanks dry, then spray a little very light oil in through the plug hole(s) to lube the cylinders for the winter. Gun oil is wonderful--you can get it at a gun store or any store like Wal-Mart that has a gun department. This oil is heavier than WD, but still very light. I use it on all kinds of things, including door hinges on my car.
Of course if your tractor has 10 gallons of gas in it, you're not going to run it dry! An easy drain would be to disconnect at the carb and let the fuel run out into a can.
I suppose that leaving a carb completely dry for a good part of a year might not be great for the bowl gasket, but I'm not sure if this is true. Anybody know?
I have a little 2-cyl diesel that I use for chores and mowing. With that, I put conditioner in the fuel at the last run in the fall, run the engine long enough to distribute the conditioner through the system, then shut 'er off.
I do like the idea of not shutting the engine off with fuel in the cylinders--condensation and all that. If I were going to store a gas tractor for months, I'd shut off the fuel, let it stop, then do the oil-spray routine through each spark plug hole.
I charge the battery about once a month during the winter (dead batteries freeze and crack open). In the past 2 springs, the little thing has popped off and started its usual shakey-shakey dance after a couple turns of the starter. Of course a diesel is different in ways--you don't want to mess with the injectors by pulling them out to put oil in the cylinders--air in the lines is a mess, I'm told.

Sometimes good, sometimes bad. The chemicals used in some blends can react with a conductive coating on the plugs and they just will not run. Other times they do not have an issue at all. I do not know the chemistry but I have had it happen. I agree the fuel is in all ways better, this has happened to me several times in which with no other changes, the plugs were grounded out till fresh gas was added. JimN